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Hillhouse Avenue, Looking North from Trumbull Street. 



HILLHOUSE AVENUE 

Trom iso9 to 1900 



THE FOLLOWING REMINISCENCES WERE COLLECTED 
AT THE REQUEST OF MADAM FARNAM, AND HAVE BEEN 
PUT INTO PRINT FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION AMONG 
THOSE TO WHOM THEY MAY BE OF SPECIAL INTEREST. 

THE WRITER WOULD EXPRESS HERE HER GRATEFUL 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO THE FRIENDS WHO HAVE AIDED 
HER IN GIVING ACCURACY TO THIS BRIEF RECORD. 



HENRIETTA SILLIMAN DANA 



October, 1900 



Reprinted, October, 1907 

In memory of 

Henrietta Silliman Dana 

1823-1907 









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The Silliman House on the Corner of Trumbull Street with thi 

Bridge over the Northampton Canal. From a Drawing 

by Robert Bakewell, about 1836. 



THE TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR COMPANY 
NEW HAVEN 



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HILLHOUSE AVENUE 

FROM 1809 TO 1900 



The first house in Hillhouse Avenue was the one 
where long dwelt Professor Benjamin Silliman It 
was built by the Hillhouses, with very thick stone 
walls, perhaps two years before it was purchased by 
Professor Silliman in 1809, but had not been occupied 
except by a man in charge of the property. In Sep- 
tember, 1809, Professor Silliman brought his bride 
there. She was a daughter of the second Governor 
Trumbull, and in 1814 Mrs. Trumbull, who had been 
some years a widow, came to reside with her daughter 
Doubtless it was from that connection that Trumbull 
Street received its name; it was early called "New 
Street," and on a map of the city published in 1827 it 
is named "Second Street." There is in the possession 
of his family, in the hand-writing of Professor 
Silliman, a sketch of the house in its original condi- 
tion, and as it continued till 1814, when some con- 
siderable addition to it was made. He gives the 
location as the northwest corner of Temple Avenue 
and New Street. The change of name to Hillhouse 
Avenue was made by vote of the Common Council 
Sept. 3, 1830.* Professor Silliman, Jr., was told by 

*Mr. H. T. Blake, who has supplied this dat^ adds- 
Several new street names were given at the same time in 

whi^ha^ 

' Hillhouse Avenue ' is duly ^^tffiS?» n WhlCh 



the late President Day, who died in 1867 at the age of 
94, that he helped Air. James Hillhouse carry the chain 
when he laid out the Avenue. In the sketch of the 
life and character of Air. Hillhouse, by the Rev. Dr. 
Leonard Bacon, speaking of his interest in improve- 
ments in the growing town of Xew Haven, Dr. Bacon 
says that Mr. Hillhouse "brought from a farm he 
owned in Aleriden and set out, partly with his own 
hands, the elms that now interlock their giant arms 
over the famous colonnade in Temple Street." We 
have always understood that the same was true of the 
elms in Hillhouse Avenue. For many years the 
Avenue was considered as private property, not com- 
ing under the control of the town, and it was long the 
custom at certain intervals to put a chain from side to 
side at the foot of the Avenue, to indicate this fact. 

Professor Silliman died in his Avenue home in 
November, 1864: after a time the property was sold, 
and in 1872-73, the thick stone walls were thrown 
down and replaced by wood, and the house, much 
changed by its new owner, was moved about so as to 
front on Trumbull Street. Later it was purchased by 
the present occupant, Air. Charles White. It seems 
very befitting that the descendants of Roger Sherman 
should follow the descendants of Governor Trumbull 
in their abode. This record is made by the only sur- 
vivor of Professor Silliman's nine children, four of 
whom died in early childhood. 

After the removal of Professor Silliman's house, 
the corner remained vacant and unsightly until it was 
purchased by Air. Charles Farnam in 1884. He 



erected the house which within a few years has 
become the property of Mr. Henry S. Parmelee, who 
resides there at this date. 

The second house built on the Avenue was on the 
property on the east side, purchased from Yale Col- 
lege in November, 1826, by Mrs. Abigail Whelpley. 
It was of wood, and still remains, having been known 
since 1849 as the home of Professor, later President, 
Xoah Porter, and there his two daughters still reside. 
Mrs. Whelpley, as well as Mrs. Apthorp, was a 
Davenport. She came here a widow with two young 
sons. 

The third house in the Avenue was of wood and 
was placed where Professor T. D. Seymour now 
resides. It was removed from the corner of Whitney 
Avenue and Trumbull Street, where it was built, and 
where it was occupied by the late Professor Kingsley. 
He was an intimate friend of Professor Silliman and 
of President Day, and the three were associated for 
fifty years in the government of Yale College. The 
house was not quite finished at the time of Mr. Kings- 
ley's marriage, about two years after that of Pro- 
fessor Silliman, so that Mr. Kingsley and his bride 
spent the first month of their married life in the Silli- 
man house. Professor Kingsley lived in the house on 
Whitney Avenue till after the birth of his two elder 
sons, George and Henry ; the latter, for many years 
Treasurer of Yale College, also resided in the Avenue 
as noted below. Later Mr. Kingsley removed to the 
stone house then owned by the College — now Xo. 114 
Whitney Avenue, where Mr. Frank Fellowes has 



recently died, — and subsequently, in 1824-5, he built 
the brick house on the corner of Temple and Grove 
Streets, where his only daughter, Mrs. Henry T. 
Blake, still lives. The wooden house on Whitney 
Avenue was afterwards the house of Professor S. 
F. B. Morse, and later of Mrs. Apthorp. Mrs. 
Apthorp had come to New Haven several years 
before, with a family of five daughters, and to aid 
her in her wish to establish a boarding school for 
young ladies, Mr. Hillhouse proposed to move the 
house on to the Avenue and change it to meet her 
wishes. This was probably about 1824. 

Mrs. Apthorp's school for young ladies long had a 
well-deserved reputation. The writer for three years 
had the privilege of attending it. Of Mrs. Apthorp's 
five daughters, only three survive : the eldest, who 
married Dr. Horace Bushnell, still lives at the age of 
95, having commenced her life January 1st, 1805 ; Miss 
Louisa Apthorp, now 88, and the youngest, Mrs. Head, 
the wife of a retired surgeon of the United States 
Army. 

In 1833-34, Deacon Nathan Whiting of the Center 
Church built a brick house in Hillhouse Avenue on 
the property where Mr. Henry F. English has recently 
replaced it by a much larger one. The financial 
depression of 1837 brought disaster to Mr. Whiting, 
and he left the house, which after some years was 
purchased by Mr. Sheffield when his daughter was to 
become the wife of Professor John A. Porter. Pro- 
fessor Porter was one of the early instructors in the 
Sheffield Scientific School, and died in that house 
in 1866. 



In 1838, Mr. William J. Forbes bought the house 
occupied by Mrs. Apthorp, and once more the building 
was moved — this time into Trumbull Street, where it 
was divided into two parts ; Professor Weir now 
resides in what was the front and larger part. Pro- 
fessor Samuel W. Johnson bought the rear portion 
containing the school-room and kitchen, enlarged and 
altered it so as to make it a pleasant home for himself, 
standing near its old companion. 

Upon the then vacant lot Mr. Forbes built a house 
of brick, stuccoed, for his daughter, who was soon to 
become the wife of Professor Benjamin Silliman, Jr. 
Mr. Forbes died in January, 1840, before the house 
was quite completed. The young people were married 
and took possession in the May following. Mrs. Silli- 
man died in March, 1878; Professor Silliman in Jan- 
uary, 1885, and after a time the property was purchased 
by Professor T. D. Seymour, who now occcupies it. 

The next house above Deacon Whiting's was built 
by Mr. Aaron N. Skinner, who had married Miss 
Harriet Whiting. Mr. Skinner was a citizen of great 
wisdom and public spirit, and, as Mayor of New 
Haven for several years, did much for its improve- 
ment. He has left a permanent record in the embel- 
lishment of the Grove Street Cemetery. He kept a 
large and excellent school for boys in his beautiful 
house. After his death in 1858, the place was pur- 
chased by Mr. William W. Boardman, whose widow 
still resides there at this date. 

Mrs. Apthorp, when dispossessed by the purchase of 
her house by Mr. Forbes, put up another house in iJ 



at the head of the Avenue on the same side, and there 
opened her school anew. The writer was again a 
pupil in 1839-40. In 1846, Mr. Sampson, who 
married Miss Emily Apthorp, bought the house after 
the school had been relinquished, and fitted it up for 
his summer residence. Mrs. Apthorp ended her long 
and useful life there in 1877, in her 96th year. The 
house, after Mr. Sampson's death, was given by his 
daughter, Mrs. Stevens, and her husband, to Yale Col- 
lege. The place has had many tenants, one of the last 
being Mrs. Cady, who once again gathered school girls 
there. It has recently become the property of 
ex-President Timothy Dwight, who has enlarged and 
embellished it for his own use. 

In the summer of 1849 two new houses were being 
erected on the west side of Hillhouse Avenue, both for 
young professors in Yale College. One of these, 
situated between the houses of Mrs. Apthorp and Mr. 
Skinner, for Professor John P. Norton, and the second 
on the southwest corner of Trumbull Street, below 
Professor Silliman's, for Professor James D. Dana. 
Professor Norton had but a short life in his pleasant 
home, and the house was purchased by Mr. John 
Davenport, a cousin of Mrs. Apthorp. His daughter 
resided there until 1894, when she died, and the 
place was bought by Judge Lynde Harrison. 

Professor Dana's house was built on the corner of 
the Avenue and Trumbull Street. A canal was com- 
menced in 1825 to facilitate business between New 
Haven and Northampton, in which the Hon. James 
Hillhouse was greatly interested. The scheme was 



never a financial success, and in 1845 the railroad 
company bought the canal and deepened its bed, asking 
permission to throw the soil removed on to the front 
of the lot where Professor Dana erected his house in 
1849. Up to that date water lay so near the surface 
that at that time after a drought of two months, in 
digging for the well, water was struck in eight feet. 
Professor Dana died in his Avenue home in April, 
1895. Within the past year the house has been 
enlarged, and his eldest son, Professor Edward S. 
Dana, and his family now reside there with his mother 
and sister. 

Only one more house remains to be mentioned on 
the west side, that built by Air. E. S. Wheeler in 1884, 
south of Professor Silliman, Jr., and on the north por- 
tion of the original Silliman property. This was pur- 
chased by the late General A. H. Terry, in 1888, and 
is still the home of his sisters. 

The beautiful place at the head of the Avenue, 
known as "Sachem's Wood," was the last home of the 
venerable man who was the moving spirit of Hillhouse 
Avenue, Hon. James Hillhouse, known as the "Old 
Sachem." This name came to him from a rather 
marked Indian physiognomy. Reference has already 
been made to the sketch of his life and character by 
the Rev. Dr. Bacon. This deserves to be brought 
anew to the knowledge of those for whose good Mr. 
Hillhouse labored so faithfully. This house was built 
by his son James A. Hillhouse, the poet, in 1830, and 
the father died there in 1832. The only surviving 
daughter of the poet still lives there. 



Going down on the east side of the Avenue, we find 
on the corner of Sachem Street, the large house a few 
years since purchased by Mr. Henry L. Hotchkiss, 
and since then considerably enlarged. It was built in 
1 860-6 1, by Mr. Pelatiah Perit, a prominent New York 
merchant, who came to New Haven in 1859, and who 
died in this house in 1864. His widow remained there 
till her death in 1885. 

Next to this is the house of the late Mr. James 
M. B. Dwight, where his widow still resides ; it was 
built by Mr. John S. Graves. The third house was 
erected by Professor James M. Hoppin, and is now 
occupied by him ; it was finished in 1862. In 1867 Mr. 
Henry Farnam rented it ; later he similarly occupied 
the Dwight house. This was previous to his building 
(in 1871) the large house in which Madam Farnam 
still lives, and with her, her son, Professor Henry W. 
Farnam and family. Mr. Farnam died in New Haven 
in September, 1883. He has left enduring records of 
his benevolence and liberality in the charming drive 
constructed by him on East Rock, and in the fine 
College hall that bears his name. 

In addition to the Dwight house, Mr. Graves also 
built that now occupied by Mrs. George B. Farnam. 
This was purchased by Mr. Tredwell Ketcham before 
it was quite finished, for his daughter and her hus- 
band, Professor D. C. Gilman. Mrs. Gilman died 
here in October, 1869, and in 1872 Mr. Gilman was 
called from New Haven to California to be President 
of the University at Berkeley. 



We have come down to the house occupied for some 
years by Mrs. D. C. Collins and her family. It was 
built in 1837 by Mrs. Prichard, who came here from 
Boston several years before, with three young daugh- 
ters. One of these daughters was the second wife of 
President Woolsey, another is the widow of the Rev. 
William H. Goodrich. These were the days when 
hackmen driving strangers through the Avenue were 
heard to say, — "This street is occupied by the literary 
aristocracy of Xew Haven," or "Here live rich widows 
from Boston" ! 

The history of President Porter's house was given 
earlier, as the second in date from Professor 
Silliman's. The house of Professor George P. Fisher 
adjoining was built in 1864. This brings us to the 
corner of the Avenue and Trumbull Street. 

The residence of Air. Henry C. Kingsley, built in 
1856-7, was on the southeast corner of the Avenue and 
Trumbull Street. He was long Treasurer of Yale 
College, and died in 1886. His widow remained here 
till 1896, when she sold the place to Judge John Hall, 
President of the New York, New Haven & Hartford 
Railroad, and herself removed to California. 

The construction of the New Haven and Northamp- 
ton Canal, later converted into a railroad as already 
stated, rendered a bridge necessary in the Avenue. 
There is little to tell of the occupancy below the bridge 
until recent dates. On the west side, not far from 
Grove Street, was for some years the modest home of 
one who had been a hero of the Revolution, Deacon 
Nathan Beers. He was in charge of a Medical Botan- 



13 



ical Garden connected with the Medical College. 
That building stood on the corner of Grove and Pros- 
pect Streets, and in 1859 it became the property of the 
Scientific School, and was modified accordingly. The 
Botanical Garden was situated on Grove Street, 
between the Medical College and the Avenue ; some 
of the wood flowers cultivated in the Garden still 
blossom here each Spring. 

Deacon Beers, as a Lieutenant, was one of the guard 
in charge of Major Andre, and through him the sketch 
of the unfortunate young officer, made by his own 
hand the day before his execution, became the property 
of the College. It is with other articles in a small 
case in the University Library and with it is the 
printed account of its history, and also President Day's 
letter acknowledging the gift. The venerable couple 
were very interesting. Mrs. Beers in advanced life 
was still a beautiful woman. Deacon Beers received 
a pension when perhaps over 90, and his first thought 
was to meet debts which had weighed heavily on his 
upright spirit. 

After some years, Mr. Ithiel Town bought the 
property on the west side of the Avenue. During the 
erection of his residence, the Beers house was occu- 
pied by Dr. Peters, a son-in-law of Mr. Town, and 
upon its completion (about 1837-38) the latter was 
removed. Mr. Town was w T ell known as an archi- 
tect; the State Capitol of New Haven (recently 
removed), and the City Hall in Hartford, were built 
under his direction. He also built various bridges on 
a plan of his own devising. In putting up his own 



house he had principally in view the accommodation 
of his large library, especially rich in works on art, 
which after his death in 1844 was given in part to 
Yale College. 

Subsequently the house had various owners, the 
last being Mr. Joseph E. Sheffield, whose name was 
so justly given to the Scientific School. During all its 
progress he was its friend and benefactor, and with 
his customary liberality he bequeathed this property 
to that institution. In 1889, the Sheffield mansion 
was taken possession of by the Scientific School, 
and converted into a well-equipped Biological Labo- 
ratory. 

On Grove Street, at the foot of the Avenue on the 
east side, a small schoolhouse was early erected by 
Mr. James Hillhouse. Many of the friends of the 
writer, as well as herself, were scholars here and have 
interesting reminiscences connected with it ; this was 
later moved away. 

The first house on the east side of the Avenue below 
the bridge was built in 1856, by Mr. William Hill- 
house, a nephew of Hon. James Hillhouse. Some 
years later (1870-74) the Catholic Church followed, 
and since then various College Society Buildings have 
sprung into existence, including one above the bridge 
on property bought from President Hall. 

October, 1900. 



[The death of Mrs. Dana, the author of this 
pamphlet, took place on January 31, 1907, and since 
its issue, in 1900, the following persons mentioned 
in it have also died: Miss Louisa Apthorp, Mrs. W. 
W. Boardman, Mrs. Horace Bushnell, Mrs. Henry 
Farnam, Mrs. George B. Farnam, Judge John M. 
Hall, Judge Lynde Harrison, Mrs. J. F. Head, Miss 
Isaphene Hillhouse, Mr. and Mrs. William Hillhouse, 
Prof, and Mrs. J. M. Hoppin, Mrs. Henry L. Hotch- 
kiss, Mr. Henry S. Parmelee, Miss Rebecca Porter, 
Miss Jane R. Terry. 

The Boardman house has recently been pur- 
chased by Mr. Rutherford Trowbridge, and the Hoppin 
house by Mr. John Brewster Fitch. The Fisher house 
is now occupied by the Bristol family from 65 Elm 
Street, Prof. Fisher's health having failed to such a 
degree that he now lives at Litchfield. 

October, 1907.] 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 






014 113 099 7 






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